Locomotive throttle mechanism



Dec. 14 ,Tze. v 1 1,610,348

W. E. WOODAR D I LOCOMOTIVE THROTTLE MECHANISM Filed April 5. 1925 4Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ml j ATTORNEY Dec. 14,1926. H r 1,610,348

'WOODARD 1100011110 v; 'HROTTLE MECHANISM Fii d'A rn 5. 1925 4Sheets-Sheet? ATTORNEYS Dec. 14 1926.

w. WOODARD LOCOMOTIVE THROTTLE MECHANISM Filed April :5. 1925 4Sheets-Sheet 5 WM ATTORNEY;

Dec. 14,1926. 1,610,348

W. E. WOODARD LOGOMOTIVE THROTTLE MECHANISM Filed April 5, 1925 4Sheets-Sheet 4 v gVWOR BY Y Z:

ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 14, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT; omen.)

WILLIAM E. WOODABD, OF FDREST HILLS, NEW YORK.

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Application filed April 3, 1925. Serial No.20,456.

' termine.

A further object of'this invention is the provision of a device of thecharacter indicated in which the engineer will have at all times theability, without interference, to

1 manually close the throttle valve without it being necessary to takeany action whatever with respect to the power actuating or operatingmeans or the condition of the latter at the time of the throttle valveclosing.

Another object of'this invention is the provision of a device of thecharacter indicated in which the power actuatinv means will open thethrottle valve and willbe automatically stopped in its movement when thethrottle valve reaches a predetermined point in its travel.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a device of thecharacter indicated in which it will be possible without seriousdifliculty to employ an improved form of single seated throttle valvethe control of which will be within the power of the engineer and whichwill be less subject to leakage than the common form of balance I '30valve usually employed.

In order that my invention will be better understoodI will now proceedto describe the same in connection with the accompanying drawings inwhich I have illustrated a preferred embodiment and .in which Fig.hrepresents diagrammatically aside view of a locomotive having myimproved mechanism applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the throttle lever mechanism with thelatch wheel and connection shown and indicating in elevation also thepower motor which, in this case, is shown as a fluid actuated rotary enine supported on the casting or bracket w ich carries the throttlelever.

Fig. 3 is another side view of the throttle lever showing the latchwheel and worm gear which I employ and certain of the reated parts.

Fig. 4 is a detailed view showlng certain of the parts by which controlis exercised over the power device.

Fig. 5 is another tailed view showing another position of the parts asindicated in Fig. 4. I I

Fig. 6 is a-view partly in section showing the improved form of throttlevalve which I use in my invention, and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the valve which I use to control theoperation of the power motor.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1 it will be seen that I havetherein indicated a diagrammaticview of a locomotive having .a boiler 1at the forward end of. which the shell of the boiler is cut away so asto disclose the steam pipe 2 which in this-arrangement extends from thesuperheater header 3 of the locomotive at the rear, I mount a supportingcasting 7 which carries the power motor 8 and the throttle lever 9, thelatter being in turn connected by a rod 10 with a rocking lever 11,

the other end of which is in turn connected by the rod 12 with therocker shaft lever 13 at the forward end of the locomotive whichactua'tes the throttle valve proper.

Air for the actuation of the motor 8 is supplied preferably thru thepipe 14 from the mainreservoir 15 or some other suitable source of fluidpressure supply and sub? ject to control by a valve 16 which latter issubject to operation by means of the connections 17 and 18, the bellcrank lever 19 and the shortlever 2Q,-on the outer end of its throttlelever which, latter is actuated by partial rotation of the button 21.

The throttle lever 9 is shown in Fig. 1 in forward position, that iswith the throttle closed and the opening of the throttle is to beaccomplished as is usual in connection with throttle actuating mechanismon locomotives by a backward movement of the throttle lever.

In the mechanism constitutin an embodiment of my improvement as s own inthe drawings herewith, the lever 9 may be operated either by hand onrelease of the latch device 22 which establishes connection with thelatch wheel 23 or it may be actuated to open the throttle by rotation ofthe latch wheel 23 carrying the lever 9 along with it .fast to the shaft26 and will cause a rotative movement of the latch wheel 23 and thiswith the latch 22 in engagement as shown in Fig. 3 will cause a movementof the throttle lever 9 toward the left as indicated by the arrow markedOpen in Fig. 2.

The pull transmitted through the rod 10, rocking lever 11 and rod 12serves to rock the rocker shaft arm 13 to the right as indicated in Fig.6 which in turn raises the pilot valve 27 allowing first a smallam'ountof pressure to pass downward throu h the main throttle valve 28 and thenby t e engagement of the collar 29 with the lower face of the mainthrottle valve 28 serves to raise the latter and admit steam to thecylinders of the locomotive in quantities as I I have therein shown asingle seate throttle valve having a relief or pilot valve 27 mounted inits center andguided preferably by the wings 30 and the stem 31 whichlatter carries the collar or shoulder 29 functioning as described.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view through the control valve 16 which governsthe admission and exhaust of pressure to the motor 8. This device hasavalve stem 32 carrying .an inlet'valve 33on one end and an exhaust valve34 at the other end and held by a spring 35 in position to keep theexhaust valve normally open and the inlet valve 33 normally closed, thespring being,arranged so that it will be overcome when it is desired toopen the valve 33 and close the valve 34 b pressure on the stem 36derived from the ever 37 through action of the rod connection '17 thatleads through the bell crank lever 19 and connection 18 to the lever 20and button 21 which last is the specific means whereby the engineeractuates the valve 16 so as to control the operation of the power motor8. I

From the above it will be obvious that when the engineer desires to usethe power motor for opening the throttle valve he rotates the button 21admitting air to revolve the motor 8 by the control valve 16 and therevolution of ,the motor 8 with its connected worm 24 turns theassociatedworm gear 25 which in turn revolves the shaft 26 and the latchwheel 23 and the latter throu h the latch 22 mounted on the throttleever9 carries the throttle lever along to the 'left in Fig. 1 and Fig.2,

lever 9 can-be stopped at any predetermined point by the engineer bymerely reversing the movement of the button 21 and shutting off the airsupply to the motor 8 which will stop revolving and the throttle lever 9will stand in the stopped position whatever it may be because of thepresence and resistance of the worm 24 to any backward or other movementof the connected worm gear. If the engineer desires to have the throttlevalve automatically opened wide all that is necessary is for him tostart the action by rotating the button 21 and thenvallow itto travelfull distance at which timethe stop screw 38 which, as shown, isadjustable within the bracket 39, will come in contact with the levershown in dotted lines at 40- after which further movement of thethrottle lever 9 will push on the rod -17 and shut off the air supply tothe motor automatically. Fig.

the automatic screw stop begins to take eflect and Fig. 5 indicates aslight movement of the parts in the direction of closing the controlvalve thru the rod 17.

It is one absolute requirement of any locomotive throttle valve that itmayv be instantly closedwith a. minimum amount of effort on the part ofthe engineman or else the device is not 'safeto' use.v In order toprovide for this, it will be observed that pressure on the latch 22 willimmediately release the latch wheel 23 by withdrawal of the toothedmember 22 from engagement with the latch wheel teeth and regardless ofwhat position may be assumed by the parts which are connected with themotor 8 and the control valve 16, the engineer can manually push thethrottle lever 9 toward the boiler head, that is, forward andeffectively close the throttle.

In the preferred arrangement of my improvement as shown I use a throttlevalve which is placed between the locomotive superheater and thecylinder and actuates said throttle valve through the medium of a powerthrottle device situated in the cab. It is obvious, however, that otherand somewhat difi'erent arrangement of these parts might be introducedwithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

The importance of my improvement will be obvious from consideration ofthe fact that there is an increasing burden placed upon the engineer inthe actuation by hand of the throttle devices because of the largeincrease in size and power and the higher pressures of steam used inmodern types of locomotiyes.

The form of throttle most commonly used, known generally in the art as abalance valve, has two seats with rigid connection be- III tween both inthe valve and the valve casing as the result of which it is a matter ofconsiderable difiiculty to make these valves tight. On the other hand toregularly use such a detailed form of valve as I have herein shown orany single seated valve with the present size of locomotive and steampres sures generally employed requires such strength and effort on thepart of the engineer as to become very burdensome. At the same time inconnection with the improvement which I have herein disclosed I haveshown apparatus in which if, for any reason, it is necessary ordesirable to manipulate the apparatus entirely by hand, that can be donewith directness and safety.

Revera'ng fluid pressure motors can be used if desired and the throttlelever par-' tially or wholly closed by fluid pressure, at the same timepreserving the possibility of hand operation as before.

1. A locomotive throttle mechanism com-- prising in combination athrottle valve, power operating, means for said throttle valve, suchmeans bein under the control of with a lever in the cab foropening andclos' ing said throttle valve. motor means for actuating said handoperating mechanism and means for engaging and disengaging the powermeans at will, said throttle lever having connection with the poweractuating means by latch engagement, said latch engagement and poweractuating connections being carried by the throttle lever shaft.

3. A locomotive throttle operating mechanism comprising, in combination,a throttle.

4. A locomotive throttle mechanism com-' prising, in combination, asingle seated throttle valve, hand actuated'means with a lever in thecab for opening and closing said throttle valve, motor means foractuating said hand operatin means, and means on said lever for engagingand disengaging the power means at will.

5. A locomotive throttle operating mechanism comprising, in combination,a throttle valve, power operating means for said throttle valve, handoperating means for said Y throttle valve having a lever in the cab, and

means on said lever for engaging and. disengaging said power operatingmeans at will, together with means also on said lever for controllingthe poweroperating means,

6. A locomotive throttle operating mechanism comprising, in combination,operating means for the throttle having a hand lever, power actuatingmeans for said operating means, and means on said lever for engaging anddisengaging said power means. i

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

WILLIAM E. WOODARD.

